There are two kinds of balancing toys (BTs)[1], which right themselves when pushed over, according to the type of a pivot point (PP) or an axis of rotation: fixed or instantaneous. When a BT oscillates about a PP (or rotation axis) under the influence of gravity, its center of gravity (COG) should eventually be placed as low as possible in the course of damping caused by weak frictional force. The odd behavior of BTs is due to their particular construction (see figures 1 and 2) for which their COGs are placed at the lowest position in the desired configuration (stable equilibrium). Hence, an intuitive way of exploring BTs would be to observe the height of COG from a reference level.
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